COVID-19 latest: France confirms its third coronavirus death as EU raises risk level

France has confirmed its third death from COVID-19 coronavirus, according to Euronews. 

An 89-year-old woman died from the disease in a hospital in Compiègne, about 80 kilometres north-east of Paris. Compiègne in the region of Oise, which has seen a cluster of cases and is one of France's worst-hit areas.

She entered the hospital with respiratory problems and a COVID-19 link was only established after death, according to Jérôme Salomon, France's director-general of health.

It comes after the EU raised its risk assessment of the outbreak, warning there is now a moderate to high risk of sustained transmission in member states and the UK in the coming weeks.

The warning comes amid a surge in cases in Europe and across the world. At an EU Commission press conference, the commissioner for health Stella Kyriakidou announced The European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) had raised the risk level, as the bloc tries to co-ordinate efforts to halt the spread of coronavirus.

The EU now has more than 2,100 confirmed cases across 18 member states, with 39 people losing their lives so far. These figures also include cases in the UK, Monaco, San Marino and Switzerland.

"The risk of widespread sustained transmission of COVID-19 in EU/EEA and UK in the coming weeks is moderate to high, with more countries expected to report more cases and clusters," ECDC said on its website.

In other COVID-19 updates:

• Total cases worldwide are now over 89,000, with deaths more than 3,000

• Portugal confirmed its first case on Monday

• Italy remains the worst-hit country in Europe with 1,689 cases and 35 deaths

• France confirms at least 191 cases and Germany 158

• The family of jailed British woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe suspects she has coronavirus in Iran

• The US is banning any foreign national who has travelled to Iran in the last 14 days

• Iran's health ministry said the death toll from the virus was now 54 from 978 infections

• Wall Street had its worst week since October 2008 due to coronavirus fears

• After China, countries with the highest death toll are Iran, Italy and South Korea.

• 45,000 cases across the world have recovered from the virus

Meanwhile, the disease has claimed the life of one of the advisors to Iran's supreme leader, as the country announced a spate of new cases bringing the death toll there to 66, the highest in any country after China.